Puzzling World, Lake Wanaka

Treble Cone Ski Field, no more snow skiing now! The ski areas all round South Island have just been closed for the season. Middle of spring in October and the snow isn't thick enough for the fun sport no more! We heard some tourists at the Lake Wanaka I-site was rushing from Christchurch to Queenstown just for skiing, but unfortunately the park was closed already when they arrive, so make sure to check the snow season dates!

One good place to spend time during the rainy weather in Lake Wanaka, a visit to Puzzling World***! They have an indoor Illusion Room and an outdoor maze which costs $15 for the combo package. Getting lost in the rain in the maze doesn't sound like fun, so we just went to the illusion room for $12 =) We felt like a kid again in this room, magical science in action, cheating our eyes!

The old Roman loo... Oooh Pete having a good time with his friends...

The most popular room here, where this illusion technic was used in the Lord of the Rings Movie, making hobbits really small! Nooo, I don't want to be a giant!

Which word did you see first?

HATE  or

LOVE?

Lake Wanaka

On our way to Queenstown via Cromwell, Cromwell. As it was snowing up the mountains, we could not take the Crown Range Highway from Lake Wanaka to Queenstown, as we would need a wheel chain for journey. So we took a longer route, via Cromwell, a town with many orchards and local produce!

We can't resist the sign that says "Real fruit ice cream" gosh... something new that we have not tried before! So we stopped by this orchard, which is full of tourists and picked the mix berries and kiwi real fruit ice cream! For $5, we get two scoops of vanilla ice cream, blended in with the frozen real fruits, the end result was YUMSSSS!!!

Definitely a must try in NZ whenever you see this! Such original fruit taste with the wonderful Tip Top vanilla ice cream! 

Vineyard.... leafless in spring.. :)

The drive from Lake Wanaka to Queenstown via Cromwell is so beautiful.. but this route has a high traffic, not like the usual country roads, so it's really hard to stop and take pictures ...We actually drove pass Queenstown, as we want to head straight to Lake Manapouri for tomorrow's Doubtful Sound overnight cruise! Yeepee...

We stopped half way from Queenstown to Manapouri and chose this secluded spot up the hill, its a rest stop actually with a pit toilet and doesn't say no camping. So why not? Hehe

Last we checked at Wanaka I-site, the road to Milford Sound was closed due to avalanche (very typical of spring season as the snow starts to melt). Milford Sound is such a famous tourist spot, to take on a cruise. But luckily we chose Doubtful Sound, which is beginning to attract a fair bit of tourists too! So people who booked on Milford cruises would have to postpone or switch to Doubtful Sound tours.
Well which sound is better? We really don't know, as we only went to Doubtful Sound, but many say Doubtful Sound is the best ;)

Gold Coast Family Trip III MoVIEwOrLD

Avoid weekends! Its way over school holidays but a Saturday could be CROWDED too. Gosh, every ride has a queuing time of at least an hour. There are many shows scheduled throughout the day, like every other theme parks, so you can never really get a ride unless you sacrifice some of the shows. Eventually we only managed to jump on the Green Hornet ride before the park closes. But it was a good ride of 30seconds probably!

Get Dry for only $5!! 

This is absolutely a brilliant idea because when you get wet in this kind of weather, you will be freezing cold if not get dry immediately.

 Marilyn Monroe

The tradition model of police car that we usually saw on Hollywood.

OMG, Batman is REAL!!~~~~

The must see in Movieworld would be the car stunt show. Funny and really good unexpected stunts!

Wow!! Good take!! The car drove over the top of the screen then crash into the building!!

Wooo, Batman with P&A!
P&A: "Come on, Batman, give us some post!!"
Batman: "Yes, I did!"

The brightest NIKE shoes in the market!! Lisa and MunGeon really caught everyone's eyes with their super shiny shoes in pink and orange! Really good advertising for Nike.. LOL

The Movieworld Characters.... Parade!

Erm, please find a phone booth Superman! Don’t strip here!
P: "Sorry, no time to waste, someone is in danger!"

Jupiters Casino. This place is so GOOD. Not for gambling :P but being a member here which costs nothing, we are given $20 casino dollars each that can be used for betting or dining in the casino. YAy! SO this is our free dinner at The PA. Yummylicious!! 1kg Pork Ribs, Chicken Parmagiana, soups and salad! Oh so full, and beers on the house too!

And of course, after dinner, a round (or more) at the slot machines from the $20 leftover casino dollars!  It is good fun, because everyone take turns pressing the machine. What a sight! Eventually we managed to win some coins! YAY….!  

Next Post: Wandering around in GC

Gold Coast Family Trip II Seaworld~~

First day in Gold Coast~~ We bought a Combo Pass thru myefun phone website. Buy 3 free 1 combo pass which entitle for entry to Seaworld, Movieworld and Wet&Wild. $299 for 4 tickets. The weather doesn’t look too good from the forecast, so we went to Seaworld as their attractions are mostly shaded.  

Sealion Show – Very entertaining  

Polar Bear enclosure. These giant bears are so cute and playful. We can see how they swim from the underground observation area.  

 Dolphin Show

 WOW

Jet Ski Stunt Show. Haven't seen such thing as Jet ski stunt before until today!

Little Penguins/ Fairy Penguins. It’s feeding time! Quick little penguin, grab your feed before the seagulls!

It had been drizzling the whole day, but we managed to tackle the ‘must see’ stuff in Seaworld =) Remember to bring an umbrella or raincoat in rainy days, else be prepared to shell out AUD$30 for an umbrella or $5 for a piece of plastic coat!

When travelling in Gold Coast, remember to grab a copy of ‘Hello Gold Coast’ booklet from information centres or accommodations cause it has plenty of vouchers for dining, entertainment and other stuff to do in Gold Coast. SO from this booklet, we went to Hogs Breath Café, 20% off main meals from Sunday-Thursday. Hogs Breath is really famous around OZ for its prime steak, slow cooked for 18 hours to perfect tenderness! And so we tried it, it was overall good, not up to what we have expected. About $30 for a steak. Maybe some other Hogs Breath branch has higher standards.  

MovieWorld~~~